Syringe and medicine dropper



Dec. 25, 1928.

W. F. WARE SYRINGE AND MEDICINE DR'OPPER Filed Aug. 12, 1927 IN YEN T01? WalferFM/af WITNESS H TTORIVEY Patented Dec. 25, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcs. f

wnn'rnnr. wens, or imn oonrinnn'nnw JERSEY, Assreivon'ro'rim wAL'rER'r. 'WARE COMPANY, A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

sYnINGn AND ivrnnrcmn nnorrnnj Application filed August 12, 1927. Serial No. 212,418.

My invention relates to syringes, medicine droppers and similarapparatuses, eo1nprising a tube or barrel of glass terminating at one end in a nozzle and provided at the other end with'a compressible elastic bulb by the expansion of which a medicament may be drawn into the barrel through the nozzle thereof and by the compression of which the said liquid is expelled through the nozzle to the portion of the body to be treated therewith. i

In the construction of syringes and droppers of this type or character, it has heretofore generally been considered thatif the liquid came into eontactwith the rubber no undesirable effects would ensue, other than perhaps the difliculty or necessity of cleaning the rubber, as well as the gias's,aftereach use of the apparatus,particularly if the device were to beuse'd for-applying different medicaments. Both glass and rubber have been generally considered to be inert with respect to many of the liquids with which such syringes or droppers are commonly used. But I have foundthat the sulphur used in vulcanizing rubber and some of the other ingredients composing either hard or resilient rubber form,.after a time, a deposit commonly'known as bloom on the surface of the rubber. This bloom, which is frequently composed of sulphur, readily dissolves in or floats in suspension in liquids, such as are usually employed in ureticcompounds, eye washes and other medicated liquids which are used on inflamed tissues, and'the sulphur and other ingredients of the rubber thus coininginto contact witht he diseased or inflamed tissues and surfaces produce an acute inflammation, stinging and other harmful reactions.

The main object of my invention is to provide a syringe, eye dr'oppers and similar apparatus, comprising only a glass cylinder and a rubber bulb, but in which the liquid drawn into the cylinder or barrel is prevented from coming in any contact whatever with the rubber or with anything except the glass cont prising the barrel of the device.

A further object of my invention is to provide a syringe or dropper of the class or type described, with a bulb which fits over the end of the cylinder and which is provided withrigid projections against which the operator mayplace his fingers, preferably the first and second fingers, and have the free use of his prising any suitable support.

on the bulb and providing rather rigid e. u \ders against which may be placed two fingers thumb to compress the bulb and express or eject the liquid from the cylinder, the said projections also preventingthe syringe from rolling when. it is placedon aflat surfaeecom- A further object of my invention is to provide a construction wherein, after the cylin der has been filled with. a liquid medicament, the syringe may be inverted with thenozzle uppermost, without causing the liquid to come into contact with any rubber whatever, or with any material, except the glass of which the cylinder is made.

A further object of my invention is to make the capacity or cubical contents ofthe compressible bulb slightly less than that of the cylinder or tube so that the cylinder will i never be completely filled with he liquidby the expansion of the bulb. a i Other objects of my invention will appear in thespeeification and claims below.

Referring to the drawings forming apart of this application and in which the same reference characters are employed throughout the various views to designate the sameparts, B 1g. 1 1s a vert cal-longitudinal section of a syringe embodying my invention, showing the tube nearly filled with the-liquid medica ment, after the bulb has completely expanded.

Fig. 2 is a similar viewof the same apparatus, inverted, with the nozzle uppermost, showing the tube nearly filled with liquid but prevented from coming into contact with anything except the glass of which the tube is made. In this figure, a part only of the bulb is in section, a fragment being shown in side elevation to clearly illustrate, the nature of the pro ections on the opposite sides of the bulb, and

Fig 3, is a transverse section on the line .9

33 of Fig. 1 looking toward the bulb. I

My improved syringe or medicine dropper, comprises (1) glass barrel or tube 1 having a suitable nozzle 2- provided with a small nozzle opening 3 at one end and a glass wall 4 at the other end provided at its center with I a small opening or perforation 5, and (2) a bulb 6 ofresilient rubber having a neck '7." ti 'htly clasping around the outside of the end of the barrel or tubel, fitting the wall 4zand preferably provided with two lugs or projections 8, 8 diametrically oppositely dispose (e. g, the first and second fingers of the one using the device), thus permitting him to compress the bulb 6 by pressing with his thumb against the spherical end 9 thereof to discharge the medicated liquid 10, contained in the tube or cylinder 1.

The bulb 6 forms an air-tight chamber at one end of the tube or cylinder 1, with the small opening 5 affording the only means of communication between the interior of the tube 1 and the interior of the bulb 6, and when the device is inverted with the nozzle uppermost, any liquid 10 contained in. the tube 1 will not passthrough the small opening or aperture 5. The liquid cannot pass through this small orifice 5 to dis lace the air in the bulb 6. Thus it: is that the liquid 10 drawn into the tube or barrel 1 will be prevented from coming into any contact whatever with the rubber of the bulb 6 or with anything except with the glass of the tube 1.

My device, therefore, is adapted for repeated use with different medicated liquids and that with the least trouble possible, it beingnec-essary to merely separate the bulb from the tube and wash or rinse the tube, and possible dry or wipe the glass tube to thoroughly cleanse the same, for the bulb will not have been touched or contaminated at all by the liquid which was used in the tube.

The lugs 8 are preferably so located and proportioned as to be brought into contact with any-fiat support on which the dropper may-be placed or laid in a substantially horizontal position, for when the syringe or dropper is so placed and is rolled slightly on said surface, these projections extend into a plane l1, l1 drawn tangentially tothe bulb and to the surface of the tube adj acentthe nozzle 2,

as indicated in the dotted line in Fig. 2. They therefore are operable to prevent the syringe or dropper from rolling off the support and falling onto the floor.

The cubical capacity-o-f'thebulb when fully extended, is a little less than that of the tube through the hole 5 and will, therefore, never come into contact with the rubber.

In this way the medicament which maybe placed in the tube is absolutely prevented from coming into contact with the rubber bulb and "the rubber bulb is never touched by theliquid therefore, none of the materials of wh ch the rubber bulb is C-OlllPOS-QClCtlIl be dis "ed or suspended in the liquid and thus carried with the liquid to an inflamed and sensitive tissue,

It. is to be noted that the; air passage or opening 5 through the wall tis located at a point remote from the neck 7 of the bulb 6 and is preferably located coaxially with the barrel or cylinder 1. This small opening is not near any rubber of the bulb 6, nor does any rubber of the bulb overlie the opening to form a flap or valve, so that in using the syringefilled with liquid, if the syringe be put into any position, whereby the liquid may contact with the wall 4, the liquid cannot come into contact with the rubberof the bulb or pass through the hole 5 in the integral wall l, situated remote from any portion of the rubber bulb, and from the cylindrical walls of the tube or barrel 1.

It is'also to be understood that the nozzle 2, which is integral with the barrel 1 may be given any suitable shape to adapt the device to any particular use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Pat'- ent of the United States is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a. hollow glass barrel provided with a glass nozzle at one end and an integral glass wall at the other end, and a resilient bulb tightly fitting around the outer surface of said barrel at the end thereof which is provided with said wall, said wall being provided with an aperture therethrough located substantially coaxial with said barrel and of so small a size that a liquid in said barrelwill not flow through said aperture after said bulb is fully expanded and the device is thereafter inverted to bring the nozzle end of the barrel uppermost, the

cubical-capacity'of said bulb, when fully expanded, being slightly less than that of said barrel and operative, when expanding, to draw liquid into said. barrel through said nozzle and when being compressed, to eject liquid from said barrel through said nozzle. 2. In a device of the character described, the combination of a hollow glass barrel, having an integral glass nozzle at one end and an integral glass wall substantially closing the other end, said glass wall being provided with a small opening therethro-ugli substantially coaxially positioned with said barrel. and aresilient hollow rubber bulb having a. neck fitting around the said closed end of said barrel and provided with a pair of projections adjacent said neck and arranged on opposite sides of the axis of said bulb forming shoulders which may. be used in compressing said bulb and which prevent the device from rolling when placed on a slightly inclined surface, said bulb being operative when expanding to draw liquid into said barrel through'saidnozzle and when being compressed to eject liquid from said barrel through said nozzle, tliecubical capacity ofsaid bulb, when fully expanded, being'less than that of'said barrel, and said opening in said wall being so small that when saidbulb has fully expanded, liquid will not flow therethrough into said bulb when said device is turned up or the liquid therein to contact with said wall.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of a. hollow glass barrel having one end tapered to form a nozzle and having the other end substantially closed by a glass wall integral with the walls of said barrel, said glass wall being provided with a small opening therethrough positioned substantially coaxial with said barrel and a hollow rubber bulb tightly fitting around the end of said barrel having said glass wall and provided with pair of forwardly projecting lugs providing relatively anipleand rigid supports for the fingers of the operator of said device, said lugs being operative to prevent the device from rolling when said device is laid in a substantially hm'izontal position upon a plane support.

4:. In a device of the character describtwl.

the combination of a hollow glass barrel having one end tapered to form an integral glass nozzle and having the other end turned inwardly to provide a wall at the end of of said tube andjon diametrically opposite sides of said bulb adjacent said tube, said projections intersecting a plane tangent to said bulb and to the nozzle end of said bar'- rel, said bulb being operative, when expanding, to draw liquid into said barrel and when being compressed to eject liquid from said barrel through said nozzle, the cubical capacity of said bulb when fully expanded being slightly less than thatof said barrel;

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a hollow generally cylindrical glass barrel having an integral tapered glass nozzle at one end and a resilient hollow rubber bulb, generally circular in transverse crossesectioh, tit-ting over and around the end of said barrel opposite to that at which is said nozzle, said bulb being provided with a pair of diametrically disposed forwardly projecting lugs integral with the bulb and terminating in substantially flat ends adja cent the point otthe attachment of said bulb to said barrel said lugs projecting outwardly from opposite sides of said bulb and into and beyond a plane tangential to the nozzle end of said barrel and to the outer surface of said bulb between said lugs to pre vent the device from rolling when it is placed substantially horizontally on a flat surface. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of August 1927.

v WALTER F. WARE. 

